Jeff Gluck: Do non-Chase drivers deserve more coverage?
Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch failed to qualify for NASCAR's 2009 Chase For The Sprint Cup. // David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
COMMENTARY
One of the most common gripes for those fans who still resent the Chase For The Sprint Cup is that during playoff time, the media ignores the non-Chase drivers.
I’m not going to defend that argument, because that’s mostly accurate. During the Chase, the drivers who get by far the most attention are in the top 12.
And that’s how it should be.
There are two main reasons why this happens: First, because the Chase is THE big story at this time of year – just as the playoffs would be in any sport. And second, if you haven’t noticed, the Chase drivers are the ones who typically run up front anyway – that’s why they qualified for the Chase.
Just look at Sunday’s race in Kansas – a record nine Chase drivers were in the top 10, and they made up 10 of the top 11 positions.
Non-Chaser David Reutimann finished eighth and got some notice for his solid run but was largely ignored. Yet you don’t often see the eighth-place finisher get attention anyway (unless it’s Dale Earnhardt Jr., of course).
In NASCAR, the race stories are about the drivers who win, almost win or have a chance to win before blowing a tire or getting caught in a wreck. If your driver isn’t running up front, leading laps or making an appearance in the top 10, how can you really expect him to get attention?
Some fans believe all drivers are entitled to coverage at this time of year, Chase or not.
Twitter user PeachTreat81 wrote that the lack of attention for drivers outside the top 12 “totally sucks and [is] not fair for people who are not fans of the Chasers.”
Another user, PhoenyxArts, observed that “What you are saying is No. 13 on down is pretty much field filler at that point. Must irritate the [Earnhardt] Jr. fans to no end.”
Simmsouth88 understood why the media doesn’t cover non-Chase drivers as much but said it gets “redundant and annoying.” Davidevertsen noted that the attention for Chase drivers “doesn’t make it right. There are a ton of great stories out there.”
In an answer to the latter argument, that doesn’t seem to be the case. I don’t think the NASCAR media is missing a great story by focusing on the Chase drivers.
Let’s go down the standings and see who we’re missing.
Thirteenth (Kyle Busch) and 14th in points (Matt Kenseth) have already received tons of attention this year. Reutimann (15th) and Clint Bowyer (16th) got notice for being in Chase contention through most of the summer.
Marcos Ambrose (17th) has been a story at times, almost sweeping the Watkins Glen weekend and exceeding all expectations for his team this season but has no top-10s since Bristol.
Jeff Burton (18th), Casey Mears (19th) and Kevin Harvick (21st) have been disappointments for Richard Childress Racing.
Earnhardt Jr. (22nd) still gets plenty of attention no matter where he finishes.
Aside from winning, perhaps the greatest example of how to get coverage as a non-Chase driver is Joey Logano (20th). His tumbling wreck at Dover got him a spot on “Good Morning America,” and he served as the in-race reporter for the ABC telecast on Sunday.
The bottom line is that if you want your favorite non-Chase drivers to get more coverage, he’s going to have to do something to deserve it. In the meantime, the focus is where it should be: on the drivers running up front and competing for a championship.
